


The Sun and His Daylight

by im_the_king_of_the_ocean



Series: Ficlet Collections [4]
Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Ficlet Collection, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Joby - Freeform, M/M, Tumblr Ask Box Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-05-31 11:45:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19425328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/im_the_king_of_the_ocean/pseuds/im_the_king_of_the_ocean
Summary: Snippets of the romantic relationship between Jim and Toby.





	1. Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> This first scene was originally posted in my 'Into the Great Shipping Sea' collection. However, since I'm going to be writing enough Joby to warrant the ship its own collection, I'm putting it here too to keep all the scenes I have with the ship together. From now on any Joby content I write will either go here or, if it's long enough, become it's own solo posting.

“Quit flirting!”Jim doesn’t mean to snap, but he’s exhausted and frustrated.He doesn’t particularly want to talk right now, but Toby does apparently and he just _can’t_.He can’t do this right now.

Toby visibly wilts.“I didn’t mean to—”

“No!That’s not what I—Tobes…” Jim inhales.“I’m sorry.”He blows a raspberry.“I shouldn’t have snapped.It’s been a really long day and, and I think I just need some quiet.Okay?”

“Tell you what.”Toby puts a reassuring hand on Jim’s shoulder.“You go upstairs and take a long, soothing shower and I’ll get us some snacks and pick out a movie.”

“Tobes—”

“No buts!”Toby grins at him.“Trust me.I know you, Jimbo.We’ll all good, or we will be, but only if you do what I say and take care of yourself.Just, do this for me, okay?”

Jim offers a tentative smile back.“Yeah, okay.”

Showering does indeed make Jim feel better.It soothes his aching muscles and gives him time to think.Training had been…well, to say it had been difficult today would be putting it _lightly_.No matter how much he tried, he kept messing up.For no reason!Jim knows it was his frustration getting the better of him and making him lose focus, but he just couldn’t do this.

He _could_.He would have to.He is the Trollhunter until…yeah, definitely not thinking about that tonight.Jim closes his eyes and opens them again.He takes a deep breath.He’s okay.He’s _okay._ Tobes is downstairs.He’s okay.

When Jim finally gets downstairs, Toby is waiting for him on the couch.Jim’s boyfriend pats the spot on the couch next to him.Jim takes the hint and sits there.Toby wastes no time in wrapping a thick blanket with the colors of the trans flag around his shoulders.

“You look like you need this tonight,” Toby tells Jim with a soft smile.

“Thanks.”Jim snuggles up next to him, and rests his head on Toby’s shoulder.

Toby wraps an arm around him (and somehow manages to pull him in closer).“Any time,” Toby whispers before kissing Jim’s cheek.


	2. Homecoming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Note: implied character death
> 
> this one ended up being a little more somber than I initially intended it to be.

Someone tapping Toby’s shoulder yanks him out of his thoughts.He jerks up and pulls his headphones out of his ears.

“Sorry!Didn’t mean to startle you.”The attendant laughs awkwardly in a clear attempt to diffuse the situation.“But we’re making our final approach into Arcadia.Our informational presentation is about to begin and all passengers must watch it before they can be allowed entry into the city.”

“Right, uh, thanks,” Toby replies.A part of him wants to say he’s _not_ a visitor.He’s Arcadia born and raised.He knew about all the weird stuff _before_ everyone else.But, he doesn’t.That’s not him.Not anymore.

The presentation is actually fairly accurate in its depictions of everyone and its points pretty standard.Remember that the trolls and Akiridions are people too.If they don’t want to interact with you, don’t force it.If you harass anyone, you will be promptly escorted outside the city limits and, depending on the severity of your actions, potentially banned from ever returning.

Toby doesn’t worry too much about any of it.After all, he’s not really a tourist.Not like everyone else on this bus is.The tourist bus tickets had just happened to be cheaper than any other option.He really just hadn’t wanted to contact anyone to ask for transportation help.That would lead to admitting he was actually planning on attending the wedding and all the hubbub that came with that.

For the record, Toby _is_ happy for Mary and Shannon.He fully intends on wishing them a genuine congratulations on their impending vows.

But then, they were never the issue to begin with.

The bus pulls into the station.Toby disembarks without incident, or as much awe as his fellow passengers.Many of whom stop to gawk at Arcadia’s recent fusion of architecture.

Some of Arcadia’s original buildings are still visible, but most are dwarfed by the massive, Akiridion-inspired towers.Others are hidden behind the stone trollish dwellings.Toby takes this all in with a single glance before collecting his duffle bag and setting off.

There are reasons he’s avoided returning after his Nana’s funeral some years back and they’re all around him.

Arcadia, in the years since Toby’s childhood, has become the massive, intergalactic and interspecies capital of Earth.Soon after the Eternal Night and Aja and Krel left to restore peace on Akiridion-5, both the trolls and the Akiridions sought alliances with mankind.As the place where most things happened, Arcadia became the epicenter of all that.

It had certainly changed things.

Toby stops in the park outside the historic Arcadia Museum.He stares up at the memorial statue situated in the middle of the park.He wasn’t there for its unveiling ceremony, but he felt he should have.He really, really should have.

The thing was, out of all his old friends, Toby was the most regular, the most likely to succeed at having ‘a normal life’.He hadn’t particularly wanted one, but Jim had insisted he at least try.One of them should go on to have all the things everyone else in the world got.Or, at least, that’s what Jim always said.

It’s a nice statue, Toby thinks.Good quality stone.Fine craftsmanship.He should know, after all his geology studies in college.It’s only failing is that it couldn’t replace the original.

“If you had asked me to stay.”Toby sighs up at the statue of Jim.“I would’ve.I know you wanted me to have a life and that’s why you pushed me to leave.Even though it hurt both of us.”He takes a breath and wipes his eyes.“But, I’m just saying, Jimbo, if I’d have been there, maybe you’d still be here too.” 


	3. Flower Crowns

“Are you trying to seduce me?”

“That depends, amore mio, is it working?”Toby waggles his eyebrows.

Jim blushes.He tries to cover the action with a hasty laugh.“We’re already dating, Tobes.You don’t have to—”

“Au contraire, mon amour.Perhaps you have not heard, but tis the day of _love_.There is no better time for _romance_.”Toby takes Jim’s hand in his own.In a more concerned tone, he asks, “But seriously, Jimbo, you cool?I can tone it down.”

“No, uh, it’s—it’s fine.”Jim offers another shaky laugh.“Just, no one’s tried to romance me, like _ever_.”

“Well, that ends today.”Toby pauses.“Yeah, okay, so I may be out of ways to call you ‘my love’ in other languages.Setting things up _may_ have taken more time than expected last night and I didn’t get the chance to commit more to memory, but I can still be—”He whips around so he’s no longer facing Jim, and then whips back, a snowdrop in hand, “— _loving_.”With a flourish, Toby hands the flower to Jim.

Jim gazes at the delicate, white petals in the palm of his hand.He smiles.It’s his favorite flower, and one not easily found.“Thanks, Tobes.”He carefully tucks the flower in an outside pocket of his bag, one where it won’t easily be crushed.“So, where are we—”

“Shush!”Toby interrupts.He grabs Jim’s hands and pulls him in a new direction from the one they were going.“It’s a surprise.Trust me.”

“I always do.”

It takes them about a half-hour to reach the small, secluded glade of wildflowers where Toby had set up a picnic.It would have taken them less time, but, when they passed a different meadow, one full of daisies, Toby insists they stop so he could make Jim a flower crown.

Not to be outdone, Jim quickly weaves daisies into a crown himself, and then plops it on Toby’s head.


	4. The Sun and His Daylight

_Don’t leave me behind._

The words are never said, but they’re always there.Lingering.

Jim wishes he could make them go away.He wishes he could make Toby see, see that he’d never _do_ that.

The world around them tells a different story.Over and over again.The story of the hero and the sidekick.It’s inescapable.

It’s not hard for either Jim or Toby to figure out which roles they’re supposed to fall in line with and, from that, extrapolate that they aren’t supposed to be together.Not really.Not like _that._

Jim, according to the story the world gives, is supposed to find his One True Love while off on a Grand Adventure.This wouldn’t necessarily be a _bad_ thing, but there’s this tendency in the stories to be quite heteronormative.Sure, they wouldn’t have frowned on him getting together with Toby _before_ his transition, but now that they’re both finally boys, things are just a bit different.

Except, they aren’t.Not to Jim.

Sure, the world has its rules, but there is no rule about _following_ them.Jim never has.He knows Toby never has either.Ever since they were little, they’d lived by their own set of standards.It didn’t matter what the other kids thought.They were Jim and Toby.They had each other.They’d never be alone.Not really.

Yet, as Jim and Toby got older, the world’s rules (and the assumptions others held about them) regarding their place in the grand, overarching scheme of things lingered.Talk surrounded them of phases, of being temporary, of ‘growing out of it’.

Jim hates it.He hates how his words have less meaning than the cutting jabs that seek to separate them in just-polite-enough-to-not-be-outwardly-mocking tones.That his words of reassurance get lost in the sea of negativity that exists solely to drown them out.How he can’t seem to convince Tobes once and for all that he won’t bend and surrender to the judgements.

Yet, Jim can’t quite say the words of ultimate rebellion against those judgements either.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to.He _does_.It’s just _complicated_.It’s hard to say words when you’re still figuring out what they mean to you and you’ve had no true way to navigate the feelings they represent.Not without acquiescing and settling down in a box you never ever fit in.

Jim wants to say the words, but he wants them to _mean_ it.To really and truly and deeply and irrevocably _mean_ it.That’s not something that can easily be accomplished.

Yet, Tobes has done it.

One night, when they had Jim’s house to themselves, they’d chosen to cuddle under blankets on the couch and watch a movie.They ended up watching a few.The moving images and dialogue passing them by, not truly important.Not more so than how Jim could feel the gentle rise and fall of Toby’s breathing when he leaned against him, or how he reveled in their closeness.Not more so than the way Toby absently stroked his fingers through Jim’s hair, or how that made Jim’s own heart flutter in ways it never had before.

Not more so than the way Toby softly, delicately, like he’d spent hours crafting the words and was nervous they’d break upon delivery, whispered, _I love you, Jim_ , in Jim’s ear when he thought Jim had drifted off to sleep.

Jim wishes he’d sat up and said them back there and then.Too caught up in the precious gift being given to him, he didn’t consider returning the favor.He regrets that.Especially because he doesn’t know how to give it now.

The examples given in school and in the media are for the straight couples.The ones who don’t have to fight for their place.They’re not for him.They keep telling him to _stop_ being himself.

The words are almost always on the tip of Jim’s tongue.Opportune moments come and go.Yet, anxiety always holds Jim back.

Until one day, one otherwise calm school day, when the emotion behind them swells, rising so high that, for once, it floods over and drowns out the fear.

The words aren’t said.Not at first.

But a kiss is given.

It’s uncertain, and shaky, but that’s mostly because Jim has never given one before and he really, really doesn’t know the proper way of how to do this.He only knows how much he _wants_ to do this.

Then, when they break apart, and Toby is speechless with shock written all over his face, Jim knows.He knows how to say, _I love you, Toby._

After all, he may be a heroic knight, but knights get to choose who they fight for, and Jim will always, _always_ choose Toby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm marking this collection as complete for now, as I have no more Joby requests at the moment. However, it's very likely that I'll write more Joby in the future. When I do, I'll update this story again.


	5. Survive The Day

“Blinky is going to kill us.Do you hear me, Tobes?He’s going to _kill us_.We’re in so much trouble.All because of some dumb rocks.”Jim paces around the tree they’ve taken refuge beside.His claws dig into the dirt, but his feet automatically kick up to wipe away his tracks.It’s not something he has to think about doing, not after years of habit and hiding.

“I can see you’re stressed, so I’m not going to take offense to that.”Toby puts his sack of precious stones aside.Sure, none of them are rare gemstones, but all of them have significant value.Cut the lovelies they’d spent the night collecting just right and the most epic of magics would be unlocked.As long as you have the right stonecutter for the job, which Toby most certainly is. 

That is, if he and Jim survive the day, and get their haul home to Trollmarket.

“Look, we only have to make it until sunfall, which is…”Toby squints to see the through the thick cover of the trees.His eyesight is poorer aboveground than it is under, _and_ its daytime.He feels the oncoming headache a second after he tries to see the sun.It just goes to show what happens to trolls who attempt to traverse the surface when the moon doesn’t lord over the skies.Toby refrains from grumbling to himself, since _that_ will only serve to agitate Jim further.“…7 hours away.” 

Jim plops himself down in a dip between two of the tree’s thickest roots and leans against its trunk.“It _could_ be less than that.We can’t really see the sky from here, so maybe the sun’s farther along then…” He stops when he sees Toby’s expression.“Never mind.”

Toby sits down in front of Jim, since there’s no room on either side of him due to the tree roots.“Sorry I dragged you along.”

“Like I’d ever let you go to the old mines alone when you have to come to the surface to get to them.”Jim snorts.“I care about you more than _anything,_ Tobes.I’d never leave you hanging like that.”

“So he _will_ risk the wrath of one Blinkous Galadrigal, Elder of all Heartstone Trollmarket, for little ole me, aw shucks.”Toby pretends to be embarrassed.

“Stop you.”Jim playfully swats at him.Toby swats back.They’re about to play tussle when they hear

S _nap!Snap!Snap!_

Twigs crack under footsteps, many of them. 

Both trolls freeze.They hear the voices.The chanting.The eager voices of just over a dozen determined little girls.

“Alright, girls!”The Scout Leader calls out.“To earn your Nature Explorers Badge, we’re going to be spending all day in these woods, going over every single inch of them.Leave no stone unturned.You never know what amazing critters you may find, and, of course, want to take a photo of.So, be sure to keep your phone cameras out.Now, make sure to stick with your partners and get exploring!”

Toby looks at Jim.Jim gulps, and looks back at Toby.

There are tales back home of the Arcadia Girl Scouts.Dreadful tales.Full of giggling, human younglings.Ones capable of squeezing into places where the adults cannot.Ones who are unafraid of a warning growl from a bush.Ones who are curious and adventurous and do not, under any circumstances, _give up_.

It’s going to be a long day.A really, really long day.


End file.
